CD News has posted a very interesting interview of Dr. Simon Zadek, Chief Executive of AccountAbility discussing the role of corporate responsibility in today’s world.

For me the most interesting part of the interview comes in the first three questions as Dr Zadek really hammers away at the idea that the Western CSR model is “the” model and puts forward that it is actually lesser developed and developing nations like China, Cambodia, South Africa, and Brazil that will really start to define how companies develop CSR practices.

over the past 10 or 15 years at the international level come primarily from a western liberal mind set. I think that there is an assumption on the part of many businesses or CR activists that it’s just a question of other cultures and countries catching up. That seems to me the furthest possible place from the truth.

for myself, I would agree with this statement in at about the 75-85% level as I think that given the size of “CSR” there is going to be a large chunk of this business philisophy that will be driven by the ideals of Western firms moreso that the conditions on the ground in the afor mentioned countries.  Corporate HQ will set the strategic directions for global programs, HQ based staff will manage country Foundations will still hire and develop teams, and while programs will localize (something we are seeing in China already in the largest programs) we are not seeing where local policies are breaking through in many of the CSR strongholds.

Were I to model it out:

Community investment (philanthropy and volunteerism) - global directed programs will begin to localize as local staff continues to develop, and business units on the ground will take on much of this role.  however, large global partnerships will continue to receive the largest grants.

Environment - this is certainly an area where western based managers need to begin listening to their BRIC/ developing nation partners as it is their partners who are exposed to the problems of environmental degredation on a very intimate level.

Labor relations (incl. health & safety). - This is an area that will have an interesting dynamic long term.  The in-house lawyers (and PR firms) of the west will look to drive strong policies to address issues on the ground as a matter of defense.  No one wants to be Nike in ‘97 again, and with consumer activisim in the west growing, the issues of child labor and exploiting labor are sensitive issues,  Some of the most proactive firms (Nike) are working with governments and NGOs around the world to develop systems, policies, and capacity to reduce these issues, and so in that manner the loop will close.

Governance and Codes of Conduct - These will become global.  firms like Philips, Wal-Mart, and others are all working feverishly to abondon the local + concept and more to a global standard that is really driven by the western home office.  Partly a defensive mechanism, partly arising from a need to work with a single code of conduct, there are entire industry clusters (particularly textile and footwear) that have worked to take it a step further and coordinate as an industry at a global level.

To read more of his interview, and it is a very interesting interview, I highly suggest it.  for those looking to learn how to break into the CSR field, you will get some excellent advice in is last response as well:

The key decision that someone coming into this field has to make is, “Am I comfortable becoming another manager in the field, responsible for reporting or responsible for compliance, or responsible for philanthropy?”;